On Receptivity

Perhaps one of the greatest qualities that a person can have, aside from being knowledgeable, clever or saintly moral, is to be receptive. To be receptive is to be open, in the sense that a receptive person would be open to new ideas, practices, and cultures. To be receptive is to be willing to consider novel perspectives, and to be prepared to accept the possibility that these perspectives are better or even (if it makes sense) truer. However, I would like to think of the quality of receptivity as something more complex. I would think of receptivity as a sort of Aristotelian virtue, a sort of golden mean that lies between two vices. The first vice lies in being excessively open: if you are too indiscriminate in adopting novel ideas and practices, your individuality will soon be eroded away by the mass influx of ideas, and ultimately you will end up hopelessly overwhelmed and confused. For one, being excessively indiscriminate to what you accept would encourage you to hold multiple sets of inconsistent beliefs. On the other extreme, if you are too sceptical with what you choose to accept, you fail to benefit from what you would otherwise receive from being exposed to new perspectives. Hence, to be receptive is really to strike the appropriate balance between indiscriminate acceptance and being excessively sceptical.

By employing reason as a tool, we determine which ideas ought to be kept at bay and which deserve at least some serious consideration; then with some good use of reason, we master the virtue of receptivity.  

「學而不思則罔, 思而不學則殆。」－論語
"He who learns but not think is confused; he who thinks but not learn is at risk."－ Analects

But I haven't yet said anything about the advantages of being receptive. I myself hold a certain view that receptivity can be thought of as an essential element of the "root of wisdom" (慧根), i.e. holding the key to wisdom. To be receptive is to be humble, to admit that one cannot know everything, and that one cannot claim to have access to the absolute truth. A receptive person never ceases to listen, to ask questions, or to learn. A receptive person acknowledges that he or she is always a student who has much to learn from others and Nature, and only assumes the position of a teacher with care and caution. Hence, receptivity is also a guard against arrogance and stubbornness. If one is willing to accept that there are things that one does not know (or cannot know) and that there may be better ideas out there, then naturally one would become more sceptical and reflective of one's current beliefs and stances. For very good reasons we want to be reflective and sceptical: without reflection we would naturally cling to our old beliefs, which with the passage of time tend to grow increasingly inconsistent with our phenomenal experience, and ultimately crystallise into dogmas. Hence, receptivity is essential for the attainment of intellectual, moral and spiritual progress, for it  encourages the processes of reflection and challenging our own beliefs.